Sunday, 6 November 2016

Conversations Before War

The Terran Empire and the Domain of Ythri are about to go to war. How better to dramatize this and to inform the readers than through several conversations? On Avalon in the Domain:

Second Marchwarden of the Lauran System Daniel Holm speaks by phone screen with his son, Christopher, who explains that, as Arinnian, he must fare to his choth to attend a Khruath;

Arinnian and Eyath see an orbiting guardian satellite;

First Marchwarden of the Lauran System Ferune of Mistwood Choth, newly returned from Ythri, consults with Holm in the Admiralty building in the city of Gray;

Christopher Holm consults Tabitha Falkayn because his regional Khruath has decided that western Corona and northern Oronesia must jointly defend the Hesperian Sea;

Vodan tells Eyath that they will not become betrothed until after the war.

On the Imperial colony planet of Esperance, Ekrem Saracoglu, governor of Sector Pacis, meets the daughter of Fleet Admiral Juan de Jesus Cajal y Palomares who has come from Nuevo Mexico to be her widowed father's official hostess. The governor mentions the Antoranite-Kraokan civilization at Beta Centauri, Dathyna (now under Ythri) and Merseia.

Ythri, Avalon, Beta Centauri, Dathyna and Merseia have appeared in earlier installments of the Technic History as have characters from Esperance and Nuevo Mexico. We have also seen Terra although not yet in its Imperial glory.

9 comments:

I remember how Ferune, in a moment of uncertainty, asked Holm if the methods used by the Domain to survive the Time of Troubles would be enough in any war with the Empire. The Second Marchwarden retorted, with some exasperation, that Imperial Terra was not a barbarian bandit, petty warlord, or chance pirate to be driven off or going away after meeting any kind of resistance. Terra would fight HARD to win after first making careful plans and preparations for war if the diplomatic efforts to settle the disputes between the Empire and the Domain failed.

And several of these bones of contention were mentioned, like Dathyna and the Antoranite Kraokan industrial complex.

Btw, Ekrem Saracoglu also happened to be Earl of Anatolia on Terra.

And wouldn't WIDOWERED instead of "widowed" be more accurate to apply to Admiral Cajal after his wife died? A minor matter, I agree!

Yes, the Technic Civlization series is a very CONVINCING "future history." Robert Heinlein's Future History and Jerry Pournelle's Co-Dominium stories are the only others I've found to come even close to Anderson's works. I might include H. Beam Piper's works if I had read enough of them.

Some might include Frank Herbert's DUNE books as well. But I'm not sure because, after DUNE, I've only read the first two sequels. Also, one online friend told me about not liking DUNE because all the characters seem unpleasant, none were truly likable.

A man whose wife has died is a widower, but I don't believe I've ever seen the word "widowered" until now, and my autocorrect just tried to replace it, so it may well not be a word. I think that the death of a wife makes a man widowed, not widowered, even if he is now a widower.

Respectfully, I still disagree with both you gentlemen. This is what I found under "widower" in THE RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (1973): "widower, adj.--widowerhood, n."

There may have since been a change of USAGE since 1973, but in the 1970's, when THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND was written, "widower/widowered" was still the correct terms for a man whose wife had died. And it still seems more natural to use those terms.

Noted. But, would it be inaccurate of me to allegedly quote THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND like this: "Admiral Cajal's daughter had recently arrived from Nuevo Mexico to act as hostess for her widowered father"? That would fit in with how THE RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY used "widowered."

Insofar as the English language has any kind of official standard for the use and meaning of words, that would be the OXFORD DICTIONARY. I'll see if I can google what it says about "widower/widowered."

Some people might laugh at how fanboys and geeks like us argue and debate over such seemingly trivial matters as this. But I find them interesting!

I am now puzzled. I looked up online the OXFORD LIVING DICTIONARY and typed in "widower" in the search box and got it back with the definition that it means a man who has lost his wife by death and has not remarried. However, the OLD did not have "widowered" when I searched for that word, which I thought odd. The 1973 RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY, cited above, DOES have "widowered."

What are we to make of this? If "widower" is correct, then shouldn't "widowered" also be correct? That is still my view.